Brussels Zaventem airport has introduced 30 new measures to enhance airport security, trebling its security budget to €4 million ($4 million). It is implementing changes ahead of the schedule set by the European Union.
The Israeli ministry of transport has banned jet airliners from landing at the airport in the Red Sea resort of Eilat because of concerns that the runway is too narrow to handle Boeing 737s and 757s. The airport's close proximity to the resort's main hotels has also been cited as a reason for the ban. The ruling will take effect on 1 November, with flights operated by these types diverted to the nearby Ovda air force base 40km (22nm) northwest of Eilat.
A new immigration hall for international passengers has been opened at London Heathrow Airport's Terminal 1. The hall is part of a three-year project to boost long-haul passenger capacity at the terminal, which caters predominantly for short-haul traffic.
Iraq is planning to build four new provincial airports over the next 10 years, as well as a new air traffic control centre in Baghdad, according to transport minister Ahmed Murtada. Terminals capable of handling two million passengers a year will be built in Nineveh, 400km north of the capital, and at Najaf, 160km to the south. Two smaller airports are planned for Kirkuk, near the border with Turkey, and in Missan province, 350km south of Baghdad. Iraqi Airways resumed domestic flights in November 2000, connecting the capital with Basra in the south and Mosul in the north. Officials in Baghdad say domestic services are handling about 116,000 passengers a year.
Source: Flight International